Elinor Guggenheimer is a living example of
how much one individual with an unrelenting passion for social justice and
concern for others can accomplish.
One of New York City's most eminent
civic leaders, she has been an activist for more than half a century, working
to improve conditions especially for women, children, and the elderly. From
her early years at the Educational Alliance, where she worked with teenage
girls, to the founding of the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New
York City in 1979 and the founding of New York Women's Agenda in 1992,
Ms. Guggenheimer has energized others to push aside barriers that stood in
the way of people achieving their highest potential.
Ms. Guggenheimer, an urban planner, became the first woman on the New York
City Planning Commission in 1961. In the 1970s, she served as Commissioner
of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. Her vision of women's
and families' needs inspired her to found the Day Care Council of New
York in 1948, and the Day Care and Child Development Council in 1958.
She is also the founder of the Child Care Action Campaign.
Her activism in women's causes moved
her to found the New York Women's Forum in 1973, the National Women's
Forum in 1981, the International Women's Forum in 1983, and the New
York Women's Agenda in 1992.
Many of the organizations she gave birth to have grown
and prospered far beyond her dreams. For example, CSPS has become the voice
for seniors ' the leader of a huge family of senior centers serving
more than 300,000 older New Yorkers.
The New York Women's Agenda, now celebrating its 10th anniversary,
has grown from a small coalition of organizations formed to serve women into
a proud body of nearly 100 organizations that advocate for women and their
families across a broad range of areas. The organization has improved
health care for women and their children and worked with local hospitals to
provide better services for victims of domestic violence. NYWA also
has stimulated growth and development of women-owned businesses, and spearheaded
better services for the aging.
As she herself approaches the age of 90, Ms.
Guggenheimer is seeking to change the national image of the elderly to reflect
the productivity and value of older adults.
She has been showered with numerous honors,
such as the Presidential Citizens Medal in 1997 and the Eleanor Roosevelt
Leadership Award. Ladies Home Journal named her one of the 100 Most Important Women in the
United States. Crain's New York Business Magazine named her in 1996 One of the Most Powerful Women in New
York.
She holds honorary degrees from Marymount Manhattan College, the Graduate Center
of the City University of New York, and other institutions.
In 1932, she married Randolph Guggenheimer, who died in 1999. She has
two sons, three grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
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